Estimar
Mediterranean Seafood · El Born, Barcelona · €€€
Awards: 50Best Discovery
An intimate seafood restaurant showcasing the day's fresh catches prepared with respect for the product, located in Barcelona's charming El Born neighborhood.
The Delekta Review
Estimar — "to love" in Catalan, used here in its fullest sense — is chef Rafa Zafra's shrine to Mediterranean seafood in a narrow carreró of El Born, listed in the 50Best Discovery guide and routinely cited as the best marisquería in the city. The concept sounds simple: buy the best raw product the Lonja can offer, treat it with the discipline of fine dining, don't get in its way. Execution is where almost everyone else fails. Zafra doesn't. Whole grilled turbot, Palamós red prawn tartare dressed with nothing but its own juice and salt, sea urchin spoonfuls, and a fideuà that is essentially the argument for why this is the dish Barcelona should be famous for. The room is clean, contemporary, bright; the counter seats put you close to the work. Prices are high even by fine dining standards, and the justification is on every plate. Come for the fish, stay for the rice — both land on the table with an authority that earns every euro.
What the critics say
- 50Best Discovery: Estimar Barcelona
- OAD Guides: Estimar
- Estimar – Macarfi
- Estimar – La Vanguardia (Comer)
- Estimar – El Periódico de Catalunya
- Estos son los mejores restaurantes de Barcelona según la prestigiosa guía Macarfi
Visit
- Address
- Carrer de Sant Antoni dels Sombrerers, 3, Ciutat Vella, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
- Phone
- +34 932 68 91 97
- Website
- restaurante-estimar.com
- Reservations
- Book a table
Nearby restaurants in El Born
- Orvay — Mediterranean & Wine Bar, €€
- 7 Portes — Catalan Seafood & Rice, €€€
- Llamber — Asturian Modern, €€€
- Cal Pep — Classic Tapas Bar, €€€
- Taberna Nardi — Seafood Bar, €€
More Seafood in Barcelona
- Batea — Seafood, Eixample, €€€
- Besta — Seasonal Seafood Bistro, Eixample, €€€
- El Pescadito de Mandri — Seafood / Fried Fish, Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, €€€
- Can Majó — Paella & Seafood, Barceloneta, €€€
- Can Solé — Seafood / Paella & Rice, Barceloneta, €€€